Question

At the bifurcation of the femoral artery the pressure is 100 mm Hg. The venous pressure after either the left or right femoral artery is 10 mm Hg. The resistance in the right femoral artery is 1.67 times the resistance through the left femoral artery. The total flow rate just upstream of the bifurcation is 800 mL/min. How does the flow divide into the left and right femoral arteries

Answer 1

The values are
`I_L  =  500.37 \ mL / minutes`

and
`I_r  = 299.63 \ mL / minutes`

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question we are told that

The pressure at the bifurcation of the femoral artery is
`P = 100\ mm\ Hg`

The pressure at the left or right femoral artery is
`P_r = P_l  =  10 \  mm \  Hg`

The resistance in the left femoral artery is
`R_L`

The resistance in the right femoral artery is
`R_r =  1.67 R_L`

The total flow rate is
`I = 800 mL/minute`

The diagram illustrating this question is shown on the first uploaded image

Generally this flow of blood through the artery can be compared to the a circuit as shown on the first uploaded image

Generally the rate at which blood flows through the left femoral artery is mathematically represented as

`I_L  =  I * (R_r )/(R_L + R_r)`

=>
`I_L  =  800 * (1.67 R_L )/(R_L + 1.67 R_L)`

=>
`I_L  =  800 * (1.67 R_L )/(2.67 R_L)`

=>
`I_L  =  500.37 \ mL / minutes`

Generally the rate at which blood flows through the right femoral artery is mathematically represented as

`I_r  =  I * (R_L )/(R_L + R_r)`

=>
`I_r  =  800 * (R_L )/(R_L + 1.67 R_L)`

=>
`I_r  =  800 * ( R_L )/(2.67 R_L)`

=>
`I_r  = 299.63 \ mL / minutes`